5 Digital Differences between Office-Based and Hospital-Based Doctors

by Alejandro Alvarez

When looking at the digital habits of physicians who work for hospitals and those working in offices, there are important variances. Results of the Kantar Media Sources & Interactions Study, March 2013 – Medical/Surgical Edition suggest that hospital-based doctors are more digital-minded overall, but only slightly. Here are five points to know about how these groups differ:

1. Hospital-based doctors place a higher value on both drug reference and diagnostic tool mobile apps as important digital information sources.
2. About 81% of hospital-based doctors say they use their smartphones for professional reasons. Only 73% of office-based doctors responded the same.
3. Hospital-based doctors are only slightly more likely than office-based doctors to use tablets for professional reasons: 44% vs. 42%. Interestingly, 16% of office-based doctors use tablets for personal reasons only compared to 8% of hospital-based doctors, demonstrating that more of the latter use tablets overall but mostly for personal use solely.
4. More office-based doctors (29%) say that they use email as a way to communicate with patients compared with hospital-based doctors (23%).
5. Office-based doctors (45%) are more likely to use professional social networks for professional purposes compared to hospital-based doctors (33%). These could include QuantiaMD, Sermo or Epocrates.

For more information on these two groups, let us know.

Kantar Media’s Sources & Interactions™ Studies offer a detailed examination of healthcare professionals’ online and mobile activities, e-detailing experience, and exposure to (and evaluation of) information sources including traditional and emerging media, pharma reps, CME, conventions and more. The Medical/Surgical edition, conducted every six months, reports on the media preferences and habits of more than 3,000 physicians across 21 specialties; annual studies provide similar perspective on Pharmacy, NP/PA, Eyecare, Dental, Radiology, Managed Care, and Hospital C-Suite audiences. Sources & Interactions was designed to help manufacturers and their agencies cost-effectively allocate resources to their overall promotional mix, and provide publishers with specific insight about where their offerings fit into physicians’ (and other healthcare professionals’) information inventory.